Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 11/3/2022
AGAWAM — The renovated library has been open for a few months, and Mayor William Sapelli gave his verdict on Oct. 20: “We finally see the end result, and it’s fantastic.”
Library staff, supporters and town and state officials gathered that day to officially rededicate the Agawam Public Library after a $1.7 million renovation that closed the 750 Cooper St. building for 10 months.
“We had some serious issues here,” Sapelli said. “Originally, they thought, maybe it’s just the roof that’s leaking. It was more than that.”
In the end, the renovations expanded to include not just roof repairs, but also landscaping, new climate control systems, new paint and new flooring. The building reopened to the public on July 5.
Ray Casella, the project architect from Casella Design Associates, said “this project was special” to him as an Agawam native, and because his family firm designed the original library building in the 1970s.
Although staff and patrons had noticed roof leaks for several years, a burst water pipe and the discovery of mold prompted the building’s closure in September 2021, shortly after it had reopened following the COVID-19 state of emergency.
Casella said that as his group addressed the problems with the roof and repairing the existing water damage, workers discovered additional places where water was seeping in, including through the walls underground. Fixing that problem involved re-grading and re-landscaping around the building’s exterior, and moving a water line.
Casella said despite the difficulty, the support he received from the mayor and the library staff showed how seriously they believe in the library’s mission.
“Opening the walls here was a learning experience,” Casella said. “But Mayor Sapelli made the job easy: ‘Whatever you need, we’ll get it for you.’ The community has shown its love by using the building. Just look at the parking lot on any weekday.”
During the closure, library staff continued to serve their patrons by opening a small temporary library in four rooms at the Senior Center. Library Director Nancy Siegel said her staff went “above and beyond” to serve patrons during this time, adapting to the smaller space and the challenge of moving books, computers and other resources between the two buildings.
Siegel thanked the Senior Center staff and members for accommodating them, and the staff of neighboring towns’ libraries who also served Agawam patrons during the closure.
When the temporary library closed in late June, Siegel pledged the library to continue the partnership by supporting the Senior Center’s own informal library. She left behind some books when moving back to Cooper Street, and now when the library culls books from its collection, it is forwarding the best ones to the Senior Center. The seniors’ book collection has now grown to 3,000 volumes, she said.
The library hosted its rededication ceremony in the Judith Clini Community Room, named for the longtime library director who retired in 2018. Clini was present on Oct. 20 and said she has been impressed by the renovation.
“It’s like a completely new library on the inside,” she said. “Everything’s brighter.”
Sapelli and Siegel presented the library staff with a plaque honoring their work during the renovation, to be hung in the library at a location to be determined.
The plaque lists staff members Laurene Bertera, Marion Brown, Wincy Chan, Cher Collins, Carol DiAugustino, Roseleen Dupre, Jeanne Goodsell, Wendy McAnanama, Diane Mercadante, Jolene Mercadante, Christine O’Connor, Laura Paul, Chad Pauley, Susan Peoples, Shari Petrucci, Deborah Proulx, Nicole Proulx, Nancy Siegel, Jerome Walczak, Pamela Weingart and Maria Yacovone. Siegel also thanked the Friends of the Agawam Public Library and the town’s Building Maintenance Department for their support.